Mixed house price fortunes revealed

Nine out of 13 regions in the UK recorded a house price rise over 2011, in a year of contrasting fortunes ranging from a 5.4% increase in London to an 8.9% drop in Northern Ireland, Nationwide said.

The annual increase across the UK was a "surprisingly resilient" 1.1%, pushing the price of a typical home to £163,822 over the year, despite a 0.2% month-on-month fall in December.

Nationwide said that despite the encouraging figures in the face of high unemployment and "anaemic" economic growth, demand and supply remain weak, with mortgage approvals standing at around half their long-term levels.

Its report said Northern Ireland and London stood out over the past 12 months, with the sharp drop in house prices felt by Northern Ireland being a marked contrast to the relative stability seen overall.

Averaging £113,614, house prices in Northern Ireland have been slashed to half their 2007 peak levels and Northern Ireland was named as the worst-performing area for the fourth year in a row.

Homes in Northern Ireland have become more affordable than anywhere else in the UK however, with an average house price to earnings ratio of 4.1, down from 9.2 in 2007. Belfast was the worst-performing city over the year, with prices nose-diving by 19% to average £161,326.

At the other end of the spectrum, prices in London, which is popular with overseas buyers, are just shy of £300,000 and are 1.6% below their all-time highs, compared with prices across the UK which are 10% below their peak levels.

Prices in the London areas of Camden, Greenwich, Hackney and Westminster have doubled over the last decade.

London is also the least affordable region, with a house price to earnings ratio of 7.4.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "The 1% rise in house prices recorded over the past 12 months can hardly be described as a strong performance, but against a backdrop of anaemic economic growth and a deteriorating labour market, UK house prices are surprisingly resilient in 2011."